Dr Michael Bonner

‘He was at ease with himself, he didn’t seem stiff’

Growing up in Canada as one of the Queen’s two billion Commonwealth subjects, an 11-year-old Michael Bonner saw the Royal family every day on banknotes and on television. His grandfathers had fought in the Second World War, and his family “strongly resisted” the pull of American culture, preferring a connection with all things British.

That meant there was a sense of magic about Oct 3, 1993, when a 72-year-old Duke of Edinburgh visited his all-boys independent school in Toronto to open some buildings.

In a wholeschool assembly in the outdoor quad, the Duke was greeted with fanfare from the school’s band. He started his speech with the “usual fluff ”, Dr Bonner remembers. Then, he looked across the quad at the school’s top brass and suggested the pupils be given a day off each year, on the anniversary of his visit. The school erupted into cheers; the senior staff “looked at each other awkwardly,” Dr Bonner remembers. The Duke went on to make a series of other jokes. “It was much more entertaining than I think we bargained for,” says Dr Bonner. “It’s stuck in my head, partly because I had been told from a young age the monarchy was very important, but also because he just made an impression. He seemed at ease with himself; he didn’t seem stiff. But at the same time, he conveyed a sense of importance which you don’t get from an elected politician.”